My name is Connor. Up until today, my life was completely normal...well, as normal as you can get.

Im your average 25 year old male who graduated from the University of Washington a little over 2
years ago. I was born January 23, 1989 in a small town in Maine called Belmont. Fewer than 1000
residents, but I loved the place.
The only reason I came to Seattle was because of all the great job opportunities after college, but
like all my other plans, things didnt go the way Id hoped.
Im currently working at the Bank of the Pacific in Seattle. Its your normal bank holding company,
its fairly boring, but it pays well and I appear to be good at it. But it isnt what I wanted to do. I
graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science. I wanted to become a programer; maybe
make it famous as a man who created the next big thing, like John Carmack. But in the end, I
landed the job at this bank. Not really the most entertaining life-story ever, but I guess Im not the
most entertaining person in the world either.
Today was Friday, and for the first time in a long time, I actually had after-work plans. My friends
and I were planning on going to see a movie later tonight and head out for drinks afterwards. To a
lot of people, this might not seem like the greatest night ever, but Ive gone 3 months without
having a night out with friends, and I needed one badly.
But out of all the stuff Id be doing tonight, there was one thing I was looking forward to even
more. This girl I like, Reyane, will be tagging along with the rest of us. And who knows, maybe if I
make a good impression on her, next time it might just be the two of us?
It had been a while since I had even thought about love. I remember having a girlfriend in high
school; we dated for around 3 months before she told me that it wasnt going to work out. I hadnt
had a girlfriend since, not because there wasnt anyone I liked, but just because of how I took the
breakup. She had it a lot easier than me. I wont be going into details as it just brings up too many
bad memories. Its been years since then, so I think its about time I give dating another shot.
As I started walking out of the office, I noticed the amount of police cars in the area. There were
people gathered around to see what was happening, but the police didnt appear to be giving any
information out at the time. It was probably some kind of car wreck, or a fight that broke out. Either
way, I had to go home and get ready, so I made my way to my car.
I own a blue 2004 Audi S4 Sedan, and I am one of those people who get overly-attached to their car.
It might not be the newest or most in-shape cars out there, but this car has been with me for years
now. I get in the car, pull out of the parking lot and head out.
I had arrived at my rundown apartment complex at around 3:30. The place wasnt in the best of
shape,didnt cost much, but was home for now. I had just graduated when I first started living here,
and at the time, it was all I could afford. A few years have passed since then and this place makes
me happy, and it has some other benefits as well.
My apartment is at the end of the 2nd floor hall, room 208. I put my key in the lock, only to find
that it was already unlocked. Its this terrible habit I have, leaving the apartment unlocked from time
to time. The dorms I used to live in at the college I went to had automatic locks, so I never needed
to get used to locking it manually. My apartment itself was nearly as bad as the exterior; I admit, I
was a slob. I had clothes lying everywhere, garbage next to the trash can (not in it, but literally
sitting next to it), my bed wasnt made, dishes were piling up. I was living the carefree bachelors
life.
The only thing I actually cared for was my home entertainment system. It had a Samsung 60 inch
Plasma TV, a PlayStation 4, XBox 360, surround-sound speakers all over the living room, and my
giant stack of DVDs and games. It cost me a fortune, but like I said, owning a dirt cheap apartment
has its benefits.
I started getting myself ready. I thought that itd probably best if I wore clean clothes tonight,
because from all the magazines Ive read, girls aren't attracted to guys who wear the same pair of

pants for an entire week. I decided to throw some clothes in the washer and dryer, and took a
shower in the meantime.
About 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave, I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth,
enjoying the thought that soon Id be at the movies with everyone. Im staring into the mirror,
brushing each tooth individually, counting each stroke, kind of like in that movie... what was it
called? Stranger Than Fiction? Yeah, that was it. Im nowhere near as insane as Will Ferrell is
though.
As I continue brushing my teeth, I get a sudden chill. Have you ever gotten the feeling that you
were being watched? Like someone was right behind you without you knowing? Like anyone
would do, I take a look around me just to make sure that I wasnt being watched, even though I
knew no one was. Its like getting soap in your eye while taking a shower, you close your eyes for a
few seconds, but then get the feeling someone is behind the curtain.
As I look back into the mirror, I catch the slightest glimpse of a shadow outside my window in the
living room; well, at least I thought I did. I knew it wasnt possible, this was a second floor
apartment; getting up here would be difficult. I brush the feeling off and finish brushing.
I still had some time to kill, so I sat down on my pigsty of a couch and turned on my television. A
news report was on about the serial killer thats been on the loose, and how there had been another
murder...right outside my office.This was the third victim in the past 2 weeks. Reports say that each
of the victims' families had been showing signs of insecurity, like they were being followed by
someone.
A chill runs down my spine. Thats what the cops must have been doing as I had walked out of the
building. Just the thought that a serial killer was anywhere near me gave me terrible thoughts.
To get him off my mind, I started channel surfing. Nothing really good was on. I flipped to AMC,
and it looked like they were airing The Rock. Its been years since Ive seen that movie, but I
cant get lost in memories now; I gotta head out.
Before I walk out the door, I took one last look at myself in the mirror and started posing like any
guy would do. Yup, irresistible. What girl wouldnt want all of this? All of the sudden I heard
something; kind of like the creaking sound you get when you walk on wood. And it had come from
my closet. The building was old, someone could walk on the floor from at least 20 yards away and
hear it from where youre standing.
I walked over to my closet, just to make sure nothing was in there, and opened it. Just like I thought,
nothing. I closed the closet, headed out the front door, remembering to lock it this time, and went
down the stairs.
There were a group of teenagers hanging out near the entrance to the complex, and my neighbors
dog was barking like crazy. It does that whenever it sees people it doesnt recognize. It gets
annoying at times, because despite the few people that live in this building, we get a lot of visitors.
Sometimes the dog will wake me up at night when a group of joggers jog past.
Either way, I drove to the entrance and the teenagers made way for me to pass. On the way to the
cinema, I was being honked at by some idiot in the car behind me. I was going the speed limit, what
did he want from me? Thats when I checked the mirror to see who the guy was. Thats when, for a
second, I could have sworn I saw a face in the mirror; not my face, but someone elses. It was the
briefest glimpse of one, but as soon as I saw it, the face was gone.
I rubbed my eyes a little and blamed it on being tired. Being at work so early probably wasnt the
best idea, especially if its starting to make me hallucinate. I was about to consider going home to
take a nap or something, but I had arrived at the cinema, and there, standing outside, were my
friends waiting for me. Reyane was there as well. Once I saw that beautiful black hair and her
smile, I knew I couldnt waste a night like tonight.

I found a parking spot and met up with everyone. Apparently the movie had been delayed due to
some problems with the projector, so it looked like we were going out for drinks early. We all
decided to carpool and head over to our favorite bar, Kell's.
We ordered a few rounds of our favorite ales, and like the young people we are, start chugging them
down. I had been hesitant to do so at first. I didnt know if Reyane would find chugging beers to be
a turn-on for her, but to my surprise she was chugging along with the rest of us. If the bartender
hadnt enforced the 2 drinks per customer rule, wed all be drunk and die in a fiery car wreck on
the way to the theater. I silently thanked whoever made that rule.
Before we left, I looked behind the bartender at the mounds of ale and liquor on the walls. Thats
when I noticed a mirror behind all of the drinks. I could scarcely make out a man standing right
behind me. I couldnt see his face clearly. When I turned around, there was no one there. This time I
blamed it on the alcohol, but just to make sure I asked the bartender if he saw a man behind me a
second ago. He replied that he hadnt. I really need to figure out a way to stop these hallucinations
from occurring.
As we arrive at the cinema, my friend Jeff hands us all of our tickets. Up until this point, I had no
idea what kind of movie we were going to go see. After the ticket-taker handed me back my movie
stub, I looked down at it to check.
Oh God no.
Reyane comes up to me, noticing my expression. Scared? she says as she smiles and walks
towards the theater.
I knew I couldnt pass off this eerie feeling, cause now Im more paranoid than ever.
The theater was having a Horror Feature Night and my friends thought itd be a good idea to go
see a horror movie called Mirrors. It was about a serial killer who used mirrors to, like, teleport
through them and kill his victims with ease. Now, I know that movies like that cant possibly
happen in real life. But you cant blame me for not wanting to look at another mirror for a while,
especially with the hallucinations Ive been having today. It would've been nice if my friends
could've given me a heads-up on the movie we were going to see.
On a brighter note though, there was one good thing that had happened tonight. Reyane had such a
good time with me that we scheduled another date to go out for dinner next week, and this time itd
be just the two of us. We had it all planned out; wed meet each other next Friday night at Olive
Garden (just like me, she loves Italian food), maybe catch a movie if it hadnt gotten too late, and
after that...who knows?
On the way home, Id noticed how foggy it had gotten. Usually I wouldnt think about it too much,
but its the middle of summer, and here in Seattle we dont get too much fog due to the city lights
and everything. It was actually starting to creep me out on top of the recent bizarre events.
Ive never been the biggest fan of fog. Tons of accidents happen due to the idiot drivers who forget
to turn on their lights and end up colliding with another car. But driving alone in the fog after
watching a horror movie can make you paranoid beyond belief.
I might not seem like it, but I am a horror movie expert. Everything Im doing at the moment is
screaming Code Red!, but there was no one I could really drive home with. If I had asked Reyane
to come with me, that might had given her the wrong idea and ruin all chances I had with her.
The drive home was really quiet; it hadnt been that late at night. There are usually people driving
down the streets until at least midnight. With all of this freaky stuff thatd had happened today, I
might actually be in a horror movie myself. Then, upon instinct, I checked my rear-view mirror...
Did you ever watch the television series, The Twilight Zone? I distinctly remember an episode
about a girl who decided to take a trip across the states, and there would always be a man popping
up everywhere, just out of the blue. There, sitting in the back, was a man. At least, I think it was a

man. He was covered in a silhouette of darkness, but the figure looked like that of a male. For 10
seconds, I just stared. I couldnt speak, move, or even breathe. I just looked into the mirror and
watched as the man sat there silently. I quickly turned around, only to find nothing but empty fast
food bags and other garbage.
This was getting out of hand. I couldnt handle what was going on, my mind couldnt comprehend
what was happening. It wasnt my brain's fault. I cant blame it on being tired anymore, because at
that moment, I was wide awake. And all I could think about was getting home as soon as possible.
I sped up, and in a matter of minutes, I was home. I checked in my side-view mirror this time, and
about 30 feet away, I saw a distinct figure walking slowly to my car. I got out of the car as fast as I
could, and bolted up the stairs to my floor. I look over the railing. This time I knew he was real. I
see him by the car, slowly walking towards the stairs. He was after me.
I started pounding on all my neighbors doors, begging for help, but no one came to help me. I
looked over my shoulder; the man was walking up the stairs. I ran to my door, bolted into my
apartment, slammed the door shut, got into my closet, and just waited.
It felt like an eternity. I waited in that closet, hoping for some sign that I would be okay. I heard the
neighbors dog barking outside my apartment, and that can only mean it sees the man as well.
Hearing this meant that I was not going crazy; he is, in fact, real. What was going to happen to me?
Was he going to kill me?
Then the barking stopped and everything around me went cold. I heard footsteps on the other side
of the wall. It was him. It had to be. I kept praying to myself, hoping that everything would be
alright.
The footsteps stopped right outside my front door and I realize something...
Had I locked my door?